Disclaimer- I do not own the Inheritance Cycle. Any character which you do not recognise is my own.

A Different Life

Chapter One

The Beginning

Selena walked to Morzan's Castle slowly, carrying a sleeping Eragon. She had been at the hospital giving birth to Eragon while Morzan stayed at home, most likely drunk. Fortunately, her maid Carly is looking after Murtagh because Selena did not want a repeat of the events that had transpired the last time Morzan 'looked after' Murtagh. She shuddered as the memory came back to her: Murtagh lying in a pool of his own blood…Morzan laughing…Selena's own horror as she saw her eldest child dying…rushing Murtagh to the hospital…thinking it might be too late to save him…that awful scar on Murtagh's back to remind everyone of what happened…

For the umpteenth time Selena debated on whether or not to take Eragon to be raised by her brother, Garrow, because she did not want the same thing to happen to him. Also, Selena wasn't sure who Eragon's father was-Morzan or Brom. She was afraid of Eragon being Brom's son and Morzan finding out and killing both Eragon and Brom before turning on her. On the other hand, she knew that Murtagh desperately wanted a sibling (preferably a brother) because he gets really lonely and everyone (except for Selena) is always too busy to bother playing with him.

While she was walking, she wondered what Brom was doing now. He had pretended to be a servant in Morzan's Castle but a few months ago Morzan found out and so Brom had to flee before Morzan killed him. Morzan pursued him but Brom managed to evade capture and murder at the hands of Morzan.

"I wonder if Brom thinks he is Eragon's father or not?" Selena thought to herself, "Will he come to claim Eragon if Morzan dies? He's probably back at the Varden plotting ways to kill Morzan. I hope he's alright."

By now Morzan's Castle was in view. She saw Carly in the front room trying to keep Murtagh occupied. She hesitantly glanced up to Morzan's room window and met his calculating gaze. She sighed, knowing that it was too late to turn back and take Eragon to Garrow's so she decided to keep him.

"Besides," she thought, "If Morzan does find out that Eragon might be the son of his enemy then I'll take Eragon to Garrow's to protect him but pretend to Morzan and Murtagh that he had died or something and then when Murtagh is old enough I will tell him the truth…"

Selena reached the front door but as she raised her hand to knock, the door opened to reveal a tired-looking Carly.

"Hello miss," she said. "How are you? Murtagh is in the front room playing with his toys. He's been so excited to see his new brother or sister; I've been having trouble getting him to keep still for more than five minutes."

While she was saying this they entered the front room. It was very spacious, with three large sofas surrounding a roaring fire. The carpet is white but Selena could still see a patch of carpet that was a bit darker than the rest. The walls were painted red and the curtains were red and white. On the walls were pictures of mainly Murtagh and Selena. There was one picture with Morzan included. In this one Murtagh had put on a big cheesy grin, Selena smiled normally and Morzan looked angry (honestly, when does he not look angry?) The fireplace is positioned at the back of the room. It is cream in colour with red dragons designed all over it. The chandeliers which hung low on the ceiling were intricately designed and looked very expensive. Scattered all over the floor were Murtagh's toys, evidence of Carly's failed attempts to keep Murtagh occupied.

Murtagh, who had been sitting on one of the sofas, saw them and immediately rushed over. "Is it a boy or a girl? Can I see it pleeeeease?"

"Alright, Murtagh, go over and sit on the sofa and I will bring your new baby brother over to you. His name is Eragon." Selena replied smiling at Murtagh.

Murtagh looked really happy. He practically ran over to the sofa and sat on it. Selena carefully placed Eragon in Murtagh's waiting arms. "Be careful with him," Selena warned. Murtagh nodded his head and looked at Eragon's sleeping figure.

"Mummy?" he asked, "Why is Ewagon sleeping? It's in the middle of the day."

Selena chuckled and said, "Babies need to sleep a lot more than we do, Murtagh. I'm sure he will wake up soon enough."

"Mummy? Will daddy hurt Ewagon?" Selena sighed. "I'm not sure, sweetie. I hope he won't, but you know that daddy gets angry awful easily, so he might do something accidently."

Murtagh looked horrified. "No!" he shouted. "Daddy will not hurt Ewagon, I won't let him!" Then to Eragon he whispered, "I will pwotect you fwom daddy Ewagon, I pwomise."

Just then they heard heavy footsteps stomping down the stairs. Both Selena and Carly gulped and Murtagh started to shake and he tightened his grip on Eragon ever so slightly. Morzan stormed into the room. He threw open the door with so much force that it banged off the wall, resulting in Eragon waking up and crying. Morzan took no notice of them and went over to the fireplace and took a handful of coins.

"Where are you going?" Selena dared to ask.

Morzan glared at her for a few seconds while he put on his coat before replying, "To drink. Now shut that brat up, will you? He hasn't even been here for five minutes and he is already starting to annoy me!"

Selena immediately took Eragon off Murtagh and calmed him down.

"That's better," Morzan snapped, "and he'd better learn quickly that I like peace and quiet or he will have to learn it the hard way. And both of those brats had better be in bed by the time I get back or there will be hell to pay for both of you." He turned around and walked out of the door. It was only when the sound of his dragon's wings had faded away that any of them spoke again.

"Murtagh, will you go up to your room please, honey? Carly and I have to speak in private." Murtagh reluctantly left.

"Oh my God!" Carly exclaimed, appalled, "He didn't even want to see Eragon. He doesn't care at all and I fear that he will not hesitate to kill Eragon if he really wanted to, especially if he is in a drunken rage. Drinking is all he does nowadays and his temper is worse than ever. I don't know how Eragon will survive this, Selena, I really don't."

"Neither do I, Carly," Selena whispered back. "Neither do I …"

A/N -Please review! If anybody can come up with a better title for this, let me know. The next chapter will take place nearly six years later. It should be up in about a week but I can't make any promises.

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